WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative David Schweikert (AZ-01) delivered a speech on the House Floor this week to expand on the disruption of costs through implementation of artificial intelligence. Rep. Schweikert mentions current examples of how AI is currently being used to make life better, faster, and cheaper, and advocates for several pieces of legislation he’s proposed utilizing the benefits of AI to reduce government bureaucracy.
Excerpts from Rep. Schweikert’s floor speech can be found below:
Click here or on the image above to view Rep. Schweikert’s remarks.
On the immorality of allowing our future generations to be impoverished:
[Beginning at 5:58]
“The two biggest changes I expect in society, in the economy, and in the world, over the next decade or two, will be synthetic biology and artificial intelligence. Let’s talk about just one of the things on our list of disruptions of what we could fixate on policy wise to make government smaller, more efficient, more moral. Maybe your retirement doesn’t have to implode on you, and maybe my little kids, yes, I have young kids, have a future. The math says right now that child that’s young today will be poorer than their parents. [This is the} first generation in U.S. History – the expectation, the math – says this young generation will be poorer. Does anyone see just the apocalyptic morality in that? What’s going on here? Why are we so terrified to tell the truth? I’ll tell you one of the reasons. You come here; you walk people through the actual math of social security, the actual math of Medicare – how we’re going to save it, and what we have to do – and you will get attack ads. God forbid you told the truth, and this side particularly over there cares much more about winning the next election than saving this country [and] saving your retirement. You should receive the earned benefits you worked for. [But politics and winning the next] election is [apparently] so much more important than doing what’s right.”
On potential cost-savings from AI implementation:
[Beginning at 13:53]
“Imagine if you called the IRS and it stays on the phone with you, because it picked up the phone, because it has ultimate capacity, because it sounds every bit like a person, but stays on the phone with you, listens to you, and walks you through on how to fill out your form. If you need the form, it can email it to you or text it to you. It could even walk you through other forms you might need because of what you’re doing. That’s morality, and it would make government less expensive. It would shrink the size of government. This is heresy, and it’s brutal, but the fact of the matter is people are really, really expensive in government. One of the ways, if you’re going to start cutting budgets, but yet still want the efficiency and the morality of accessibility for the public, start thinking about how many government agencies – because they’re always marching in here complaining they can’t hire anyone anyway. Well, let’s replace those slots with technology that will actually give you the answers you’re looking for because it has the full information set in front of it. This is the moral way to do it.“
On current AI innovation models:
[Beginning at 20:57]
“We’ll publish a report from the Joint Economic Committee that I’m going to get crap for. You’re going to see a top line number over the next ten years [that shows] obesity will cost this country as high as $9.1 trillion over the next ten years – the single biggest spend in this government. Our brothers and sisters are dying. I think we’re about to have the fifth year in a row where prime age males are dying younger. Think of that – you have a country where people’s life expectancy is falling. We’re going to pass a farm bill and nutrition support and not actually think about if it should be nutrition support or calorie support? This government fights against itself. We actually give you an EBT Card to go buy onion rings, and on this side, we’ll cover your health care costs when you’re sick. Have we lost our minds? Yes, we have lost our minds, but we’re actually seeing all sorts of data, and I have some of the articles here. “AI figured out 17 there are genes to look at that will actually give us an indicator if you’re going to have certain types of heart disease.” “AI traces mysterious metastatic cancer to its source.” This is one of the most fascinating. I have almost a binder just on this one. “How Google’s new AI could revolutionize medicine.” If you go in there, because I know all of you are really smart and you read this crazy stuff, you’ve all read about the Google fold, folding of protein over certain things so it can be delivered and withstand in your body and help cure you. You live in the time of miracles. And this place here is one of the biggest barriers to those miracles coming to market. It’s absolutely immoral.”
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Congressman David Schweikert serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and is the current Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee. He is also the Vice Chairman on the bicameral Joint Economic Committee, chairs the Congressional Valley Fever Task Force, and is the Republican Co-Chair of the Blockchain Caucus, Telehealth Caucus, Singapore Caucus, and the Caucus on Access to Capital and Credit.